It’s illuminating to read what church leaders wrote in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. So much corruption crept in when Rome took over the church that it’s otherwise difficult to sort what practices are actually rooted in the Apostles’ teachings.

If you have a few minutes, go read Alan’s posts. You may be surprised at how much church meetings have changed!

Nicole and I took the kids out to Longs Park on Sunday afternoon. We had a good time just relaxing, goofing off at one of the playgrounds, and hanging out at the petting zoo. Yes, I said “the petting zoo.” At a park!

This is just one of the many reasons why I love Lancaster County.

1. Isn’t a 501(c)(3) state-authorized nonprofit organization?
2. Isn’t filled with a bunch of theological fruitcakes?

Because it seems that every time I express distaste with either of these two things, I’m told some variation of “you’ll never find the perfect church on this earth, and if you do you’d only ruin it by joining.”

Why can’t the “regular assembling” look more like a family reunion?

Maybe I’ll get back in the groove once Sugarplum Paperie 2.0 launches. Until then, most of my web activity is divided between Facebook and Flickr.

Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said that an individual right to bear arms is supported by “the historical narrative” both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted.

The Constitution does not permit “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home,” Scalia said. The court also struck down Washington’s requirement that firearms be equipped with trigger locks.

(Source: The Evansville, Indiana Courier & Press)

Of course, it’s the stereotypical 5-to-4 ruling… which basically means half of the current judges presiding over the Supreme Court are complete idiots. (Really: if you have a feeling the vote is going this way, isn’t this like telling every potential “freak militiaman” to start gunning for you? It doesn’t make any sense to me… because now you don’t have gun bans to hide behind. I just don’t get it.)

The first trailer for The Mummy 3 is up now. (Anyone else growing bored with the “10,000 arrows flying at once” scene?)

Jeremy Zehr has restored my faith in movie reviews with his take on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Also, don’t miss the Speed Racer Review “Freak Bite” on his Freak Accident podcast.

As for me? So far this year, I have yet to see anything beyond Horton Hears a Who.

“A cult is a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g. isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of [consequences of] leaving it, etc) designed to advance the goals of the group’s leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community.”

(HT: Wikipedia)

That’s it—only one question long! So what’s your answer?

(HT: Adventures in Legal Land)

(This is a sort of update to my Summer 2008 Blockbusters post from earlier in the week.)

This is brilliant! Perhaps not helpful for every video search you’d ever run, but many searches would be aided by this sort of results display. Google’s already testing a timeline-based search results system; they need to get on the ball and add this functionality to YouTube (and/or Google Video).

Iron Man

‘Nuff said.

Son of Rambow

This movie reminds me of my childhood: days spent in the backyard with the video camera, my brothers and I making our own action/adventure blockbusters. We never got this creative with the special effects, though.

Speed Racer

When I saw the first trailer it was so much eye-candy, my optic nerves wanted to puke. That reflex has settled down now, and I actually think I’ll be able to enjoy the thing.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Finally! Last year I read Prince Caspian to Katie in anticipation of this film… and then it was delayed. Hmm… I wonder if we ought to re-read it now?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The boys (Lucas, Spielberg and Ford) said way back when that they’re only making this movie because they’re rich, old men and they thought it would be fun. That could mean that it’ll be really good, or really bad. Like, worse than Temple of Doom bad. :shudder:

The Incredible Hulk

Hooray! We finally have a Hulk film that doesn’t look like a box-office bomb stink like Banner’s pits! (Don’t let the door hit you on the backside as you leave, Mr. Ang Lee. Thank you.)

The Happening

“In a world where all of humanity is mysteriously dying off, one man will survive… Marky Mark.” Yes, Shyamalan truly understands the horror genre.

Get Smart

Let’s face it: Steve Carell has played “Michael Scott as ___” in every single theatrical role he’s had to date. Let’s face it: that’s why he’s so hilarious.

Wanted

The good: it’s just like The Matrix, but less sci-fi and more wild west gunslinging. The bad: it’s just like The Matrix, but less sci-fi and more wild west gunslinging.

(Seriously! A guy working in a cubicle meets a cute chick who thinks he’s some special mystical dude and takes him to a black man who will then spout philosophy and train him to take out “the bad guys” by doing things with bullets that you aren’t supposed to be able to do. How is that not The Matrix, people?)

Wall•E

It’s Pixar. It’s robots. It’s the future. I am so there! (But please, Pixar: don’t let this be another A.I.!)

The Dark Knight

From what I’ve seen in the latest trailer, the late Heath Ledger’s interpretation of The Joker is quite possibly the best ever. I’m most excited about this one.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

I want to believe that this will be good—if only because Nicole’s already itching to buy the tickets! (Update: the X-Files movie trailer is now online.)

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Grab the popcorn and prepare to zone out, because you know that any movie where Brendan Fraser faces off against Jet Li has firmly released any grip it otherwise had on reality. But hey, that’s why we love the Mummy films, right? (Anyone remember “Brendan Fraser vs. Scorpo-Rock”?)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

This will be fun! That is all.

This past weekend, Nicole and I took the kids to see Horton Hears a Who! It was Joshua’s first time in a movie theater, and he did okay. (He got a bit whiny toward the end, so I took him over near the door and held him a bit, and he calmed down.)

Anyway, the movie was a lot of fun. I had trouble keeping track of whether Horton and the kangaroo represented “mainstream culture vs. evil, close-minded fundamentalists” or “believer vs. atheist.” It was a little too disorienting to try and embrace both models at the same time—maybe due to my taking personally the homeschooling dig early in the film.

As with previous Dr. Seuss theatrical adaptations, a number of additions were made to convert the 72-page book into an 86-minute film. Unlike previous live-action Seussian projects, however, these additions (for the most part) added something to the story without mutating it into a children’s book version of Ace Ventura. Even the anime fight sequence worked! The main exception in my mind?

“In my world, everyone’s a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”

At first glance, Katie seems to have been intended to play the part of the cute toddler who sometimes makes strange remarks. She ends up just being creepy, though. Her character is so dissonant in relation to the rest of the movie that she doesn’t just seem out of place… she seems like a saboteur, intentionally seeking to derail the story.

Aside from Katie, the movie just works. So, since she doesn’t have much screen time, I’d give the movie 4.5 (out of 5) stars!

I took Katie with me this morning (she’s almost a bigger Ron Paul supporter than I am; she says he’s her “favorite President ever”) out to my local polling place. Now I think it’s weird that the State government is using a religious institution’s building to run a government function, but hey–I’m one of those weird “separation of Church and State”rs. Outside the building was a table where a guy had a sample Republican ballot, as well as this handy-dandy little reference card:

FYI: 100% of the identified Ron Paul supporters (three of the four candidates in each list) are “NOT ENDORSED” by the Republican Committee of Lancaster County, PA. Those candidates are listed at RonPaulPA.com.

You know, this just seems odd to me. I can see a special interest group endorsing certain GOP candidates before the GOP primary, but why would the GOP itself be endorsing particular candidates before the primary election?

Why should their a priori endorsement matter to me? Isn’t that a little bit backwards?

Sorry, I’m just a little bit angry about this. If they’d given reasons for the endorsements (or lack thereof), I might feel better about it. But when they do something like this, aren’t they implicitly saying “those candidates aren’t ‘Republican’ enough”? Fine, make that claim… but support it if you want me to take you seriously!

Just handing over this card, though… party officials are literally dictating to area residents how to vote?! How would it look if your county’s Democratic party was telling all the Democrats to vote for Obama? That’s what this looks like to me.

The purpose of a primary is for me to tell you who to vote for, “Party Officials”; not vice-versa.

Ooh… it just burns me up!

Well, I’ve taken the plunge.

I backed up my database, disabled my plugins and upgraded to WordPress 2.5. With almost zero trouble, I was up and running—and let me tell ya, I like it!

I’m going to give the new admin interface the benefit of the doubt, but I have Fluency, a new Admin Theme on standby in case I get tired of the softer tones.

Well, this one gave me pause. Then it confused me. Then I was convinced that I had a moral obligation to share it with all of you!

This is an e-mail I received from Clair. Or maybe it’s from Kristina:

Here’s some Very Interesting Things that jumped out at me:

1. She claims to have “closely read [my] profile” (only God knows what profile she’s referring to), yet has somehow gotten the (wrong) idea that I’m either unmarried or willing to cheat on my wife. (”I looking for serious relations.”)
2. She’s under the impression that I’m dirt-poor. (”For me are not necessary money.”)
3. She called me ugly! (”The external beauty for me too is not important.”)
4. Here’s the kicker, and it’s what made her request for “the man will concern to me” so gosh-darned tempting: people, at the free time she likes to go to DISCO!

But nope! Sorry, Ms. Whoever-you-think-your-name-is… I already got a wife off the Internet.

Numb3rs wouldn’t have an audience if it weren’t for Square One TV’s MathNet. I think it’s only fair for them to write an episode guest-starring Joe Howard and Beverly Leech (George Frankly and Kate Monday, respectively).

They don’t have to be law enforcement officers; but the stronger their connection to solving crimes with math, the cooler it would be.

And speaking of Square One actors making guest appearances, Larry Cedar would make a perfect brother to LOST’s Ben Linus (Michael Emerson). Just sayin’.

Katie got to do some pretty cool things this morning:

• take part in her first “community” Easter egg hunt
• meet Lisa Landis
• make her first-ever request for the Kids Cookie Break request hour

So she’s a happy camper.

“And ye, O peoples, to whom God gave the liberty to choose your own magistrates, see to it, that ye do not forfeit this favor, by electing to the positions of highest honor, rascals and enemies of God.” — John Calvin

So according to John Calvin, you forfeit your God-given freedom to vote if you elect anyone but Ron Paul.

“They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food–but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations.” — Pliny the Younger

In more sixpencey words, “Sing a song to Jesus | and promise not to lie | then get together in a home | and eat some fresh-baked pie.” Sounds… simple, doesn’t it? Why doesn’t this sound anything like most Christians’ (in the Western world, at least) Sunday gatherings? Head on over to Alan Knox’s post on it to chime in on that particular discussion.

“…how is it that CJ Mahaney can make 5 references to his pride and arrogance in his blog, [and] that’s somehow celebrated as humility… [but Larry Tomczak] is confronted with observations of pride and arrogance, prayerfully considers these observations, repents of his sin, writes a letter to this effect that is distributed to the entire ministry, steps down from leadership, and submits to months of disciplinary consequences… [only to be considered] ‘disqualified’ to lead a church?

“I’m sorry. But this woman’s posts—more than any others (b/c she was obviously involved in this process)—has convinced me that Sovereign Grace is a cult.”

(comment by “SGM Casualty” on SGM Survivors)

This website is blowing the lid off of the corruption and poor leadership that’s been allowed to fester in Sovereign Grace Ministries, due to years of fear, control, and cultic tactics. It’s heartbreaking to hear some of the stories from former members; moreso to hear the ensuing silence from SGM leadership.

There’s nasty stuff in there, folks, but C.J. et al seem to want to just circle the wagons. Honestly? I think that’s worse than anything that’s being said over on the blog (and new message board).

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.“ — Ephesians 5:11 (ESV)

UPDATE: On Friday, March 14th, Eric Simmons spoke to the singles at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD. You can download the MP3 of his talk, but what I find most interesting is this particular quote (beginning at the 13:49 mark):

I’m also concerned because at this point in time, we are at the pinnacle of the Information Age. You can in an instant find tons of information on any subject you want on Google. Do you realize that Google allows you to be one step away from a lot of heresies?

There are a lot of heretics out there with a lot of false teachings that have blogs. And it’s phenomenal to me in our age now, that what is represented on the Internet is now seen as fact, and authority, and truth! And the reality? Most of these guys who are writing blogs are 24-year-old guys living in their moms’ basement, sitting there in their underwear! That’s what they’re doing! They’ve got a robe on, and they’re just typing away. And they’re typing away their false teaching, which is honestly a bunch of garbage.

It’s out there! It’s just one click away.

I would humbly submit that this is nothing more than fear-based propaganda. (I would also like to point out that C.J. Mahaney, Josh Harris and Eric Simmons are all bloggers–Eric doubly so, as he also writes for the New Attitude blog.)

UPDATE #2: I seem to have driven the “Orthodoxy Underground” further underground, as can be attested by Google’s cached versions of these Blogger profiles. (Thanks to Elaine Hooton for pointing out that the blog was apparently taken down.) I don’t know much of anything about the blog (it was private; you had to be pre-approved by their admins just to read it), but apparently (according to Google) Thabiti Anyabwile, Justin Buzzard and Ricky Alcantar were all members of the blog. So why’d they delete the whole thing, just a few days after this matter came up?

UPDATE #3: Bugger. The Google Cache link doesn’t work anymore. Well, it just listed the Blogger profiles for Eric, Thabiti, Justin and Ricky (and showed them as linked to the Orthodoxy Underground site). Thanks to Dan for catching this one!

UPDATE #4: What do I mean by “cult”? Find out here.

If it doesn’t have a tail it’s not a monkey—even if it has a monkey kind of shape—if it doesn’t have a tail it’s not a monkey! If it doesn’t have a tail it’s not a monkey… it’s an ape.

Have you ever wondered how to tell the difference between the two? Larry the Cucumber comes to our rescue once again in this Silly Song from The Wonderful Wizard of Ha’s:

The kids love listening to WJTL’s Kids’ Cookie Break every Saturday morning, and this song has gotten frequent airplay. Joshua’s been walking around saying “monkey” over and over again. Especially pointing to Jakey, our stuffed gorilla (which is an ape).

Oh, and I guess since this is St. Patrick’s Day (BTW, today I’m wearing red—the anti-green!) I ought to send you off to watch Big Idea’s St. Patrick flannel-graph biography.

I also can’t help but notice that a far greater proportion of my posts focused on Gemstone Publishing’s Disney comic books. Nowadays I’m far more likely to talk politics. (Hey, I found it interesting!)

But you know what I found even more striking? Back then, I would tend to just post a quote from a book, article or sermon. You know, the way Josh Sowin likes to blog. These days I tend to feel guilty if I don’t inject some of my own commentary.

But tough noogies, Travis! Because as part of my plan to celebrate these past three years of blogging, I’m going to goof around get back to my roots with Quotes Week! “What is Quotes Week,” you ask? Silly human! Each day I’ll post a quote (maybe a couple if they’re closely related) and very little personal commentary. You will then be led to marvel at the intelligence of others, rather than marveling at my own intelligence (which, let’s face it, is what typically happens around here).

Hopefully y’all don’t notice this is a dumb excuse to not write much enjoy it as much as I do!

Ooh! Ooh! And there’s a special, secret surprise in the works! I don’t want to reveal too much about it right now, but something super-fun will be happening on April 10th! So mark your calendars, folks! You heard it here first… primarily because nobody else knows about it.

I feel extra goofy all of a sudden. I wonder if it’s more from the lack of sleep, the Benadryl, or the giddiness that is writing whatever the heck I want to!

Woo-hoo! Go, diphenhydramine, go!

This week’s focus is socio-political:

Common Sense
Thomas Paine

Good ol’ Tommy sits atop the pinnacle of political satire. If you’re a budding satirist (this includes anyone who likes to comment on blog posts), you need to read this work. A few times.

The Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Whether you’re a budding pro-Obama Commie or a conservative who’s heard rumors that the United States’ government isn’t as democratic or republican as we’ve been led to believe, this book has something for you. Go ahead: grab it and see just how Communistic our government has already become. I’d say McCarthy lost this battle…

The Art of War
Sun Tzu and William Lidwell

Speaking of battles: if you’re going to wage a war, this is the only must-read book on the subject. Period. (Or so I’ve heard.)

There you go! Short and sweet, because these books are HUGE! You’re gonna need all the time you can get just to skim over them this weekend!

At WOWIO, readers can legally download high-quality copyrighted ebooks from leading publishers for free. Readers have access to a wide range of offerings, including works of classic literature, college textbooks, comic books, and popular fiction and non-fiction titles.

• House Resolution 924: Congratulating Iowa State University of Science and Technology for 150 years of leadership and service to the United States and the world as Iowa’s land-grant university. [full text]
• House Resolution 948: Congratulating the University of Kansas (”KU”) football team for winning the 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl and having the most successful year in program history. [full text]
• House Resolution 493: Congratulating the women’s water polo team of the University of California, Los Angeles, for winning the 2007 NCAA Division I Women’s Water Polo National Championship, and congratulating UCLA on its 100th NCAA sports national title, making it the most accomplished athletic program in NCAA history. [full text]

Yep, yep… there’s lots of tough choices to make when you’re a U.S. Representative. And I’m sure my fellow 16th Districters can join me in saying, “thank you, Rep. Pitts, for congratulating those Universities and their sports teams! That is precisely why we elected you, sir. Keep up the good work.”

Oh, and then there was this silly little matter of the President vetoing HR 2082 (the House of Representatives’ ‘08 Intelligence Authorization Act). There was a House vote to override the veto, and Rep. Pitts voted “nay.” (Yawn.) Let’s get back to important stuff, like sports… okay?

By the way: you may be wondering, “why did the President veto this bill anyway? I thought our ‘War on Terror’ was crippled until this Act was approved!” Well, it seems there is a Very Important Reason. Now, his veto message includes a few reasons, but the primary one seems to be this: “…the bill would harm our national security by requiring any element of the Intelligence Community to use only the interrogation methods authorized in the Army Field Manual on Interrogations. It is vitally important that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) be allowed to maintain a separate and classified interrogation program.”

So the President doesn’t really care about you and your family’s risk from potential terrorist plots; his only concern is to be able to conduct “interrogations” (read:torture) outside of any legal restrictions or oversight.

Here in time for Easter, grab this great comic book for free! It’s written by the same guy who gave us the comic book adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight. Ben Avery’s a pretty cool guy. By the way, you’ll want to be on the lookout for his future projects…

Want to grab your copy? Sign up at WOWIO.com to get it.

You know, it’s gotten to where I don’t even want to go to a mall if they have a Vickie’s. They’ve gotten so brazen with their—let’s call a spade a spade, folks—pornographic window displays that Nicole and I have quietly boycotted them for nearly half a decade. I’m not the only one, either: I know of many men and women (mostly conservative Christians) who would like to shop there, but don’t want to support a store which seems more interested in selling immorality.

Now, finally, it looks like Victoria’s Secret is taking the hint:

“Victoria’s Secret… has become ‘too sexy’ for its own good, its top executive said.

‘We’ve so much gotten off our heritage… we use the word ’sexy’ a lot and really have forgotten the ultra feminine,’ said Sharen Turney, Victoria’s Secret’s chief executive.”

It seems the company lost quite a bit of money over the past year, and they’re finally returning to their roots: “The chain was started in San Francisco in 1977 by Roy Raymond, who said he was embarrassed trying to buy lingerie for his wife and hoped to provide a comfortable place for men to shop“ (emphasis mine). Married men don’t like being made to feel like they’re entering a strip club when they’re trying to buy something cute for their wives to wear in the bedroom. The store’s original owner understood that, and hopefully this latest news means the current owners now understand it, too.

The world at large seems to think that sex is for anything but a happy marriage. What originally made Victoria’s Secret unique was that they celebrated the marriage bed. When they gave up that truly unique angle and instead relied on cheap titillation, the attention waned and they started losing money. Good for them that they noticed before they went bankrupt.

Me? I just hope the changes are made before Nicole’s birthday. Or at least mine.

So I Googled the number, and it turns out it’s Payless ShoeSource wanting to tell me about a “buy one, get one free” sale they’re running. And yes, I know that’s not what they’re calling it, but I absolutely refuse to call this a “BOGO.” “Buy one, get one” means exactly that: you get the one item you bought. “Buy one, get one free,” on the other hand, means you get two items when you only paid for one. (Interesting tidbit: “shoplifting” can mean the same thing, but the stores don’t typically encourage such behavior. It’s true!)

Ahem. So why did Payless call me at work (at 2:30pm, when I’m not likely to drop everything and run out to buy two pairs of shoes)? A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of boots from Payless. Where I was asked for my phone number at the cash register. I’m too nice to flat-out refuse, so I gave ‘em the number at my desk.

Here’s what really irks me about all of this: when asked for my phone number, I was never told that I would receive phone calls regarding future sales. If anything, I was given the impression that my phone number was needed because I was paying with a debit card, or to track demographics (like when other stores will ask for your 3-digit area code). I was tricked into being barraged by advertisements, just because I don’t want to be a jerk to a store clerk who’s simply doing as she was trained. I was never asked permission for this use of my phone number, and never offered it. This use was forced upon me by somebody who cares nothing for me as a person, but merely for what he can get by using me.

You could say Payless raped my phone number.

Now I like the boots I bought. I was ready to make Payless my “the shoe store” for the foreseeable future. But as happy as I was, I feel like I’d be encouraging this sort of customer disservice if I continued to buy from them. Which sucks, because I don’t want to have to find another place to buy shoes.

“Real permission is different from presumed or legalistic permission. Just because you somehow get my email address doesn’t mean you have permission. Just because I don’t complain doesn’t mean you have permission. Just because it’s in the fine print of your privacy policy doesn’t mean it’s permission either.” — Seth Godin, Permission Marketing

I won’t forget this. Payless has lost any and all trust I had in them. They may never earn it back. And all because they refused to consider others as more important than themselves.

McCain thinks the voters have no right to know a Presidential candidate’s approach to foreign policy; Cheney really did want to invade Iraq for the oil, after all—and was making plans to do so as early as six months before 9/11; and TSA officials are now confiscating baby food and divvying it up amongst themselves.

Is it any wonder why I’m happy that a guy like Ron Paul isn’t giving up?

If I’ve seemed absent lately, it’s because I’m working on a bit more “comic booky” stuff than I usually tackle in a given month. I even took some work home this past week (which is something I typically try to avoid). It’s fun and all, but I just can’t get into the blogging groove with Damocles’ dagger dangling overhead…

Anyway, I’m almost done and I’ll be back soon. Besides, the next version of WordPress (2.5) is going to be released soon, and I have some template cleanup work to do if I’m gonna be ready to upgrade in time!

(Pictured: Me at home. Late at night. Drinking coffee, looking over [H 95040] “The Mysterious Mustachio. Thinking of witty things to say…)

So this morning, Mr. Sutton was talking about waterboarding, torture, etc. and basically said the military needs to do all o’ that and more to find out whatever they can to stop terrorists. I’m no good on the phone, so I sent him a few e-mails (two of which I sent in early enough for him to read on the air):

Gary,

My concern with waterboarding is a concern with torture in general being used to extract information: it’s not very reliable.

Here Gary broke in and asked, “how do you know it’s not reliable, Travis? It was reliable with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, right?” Well, maybe not. Anyway, I wasn’t on the phone so I couldn’t disagree with him there. Continuing, I quoted Ron Paul:

“Legal issues aside, the American people and government should never abide the use of torture by our military or intelligence agencies. A decent society never accepts or justifies torture. It dehumanizes both torturer and victim, yet seldom produces reliable intelligence.” — Rep. Ron Paul

Gary said he respects Paul, but called this stance “naïve.” Seems it was so naïve that he made sure to say my e-mail “attributed the quote to Ron Paul.” That’s true, but Paul really said it back in 2004.

Anyway, Gary went on to read my second e-mail (a bit of context first: a caller had asked Gary if the President swears an oath to defend the people of the United States, and Gary answered in the affirmative):

Gary,

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The oath is to defend the Constitution, not American lives. True, “faithfully execut[ing] the Office” does include being “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States,” but this doesn’t mean he can commit Treason against the Constitution in an effort to “protect American lives.”

I can’t remember exactly what he said in response to this, but he essentially said I was spending too much time on particular words and phrases and missing the gist of the thing. (Gosh, if he only knew!)

The problem with this “the President swears an oath to protect the people” statement is that there’s a reason folks assert “people” instead of “Constitution”; namely, the current Administration has been acting in blatant opposition to the Constitution since 9/11 (if not earlier), and justify their unlawful acts by saying, “it’s to protect the people.”

So I sent him another e-mail as a follow-up, but couldn’t get it off before his show ended. In it, I laid out my case for why I believe the Executive Branch’s condoning of waterboarding and similar interrogation methods constitutes an Act of Treason:

Thanks for addressing my e-mails. Sounds like I need to flesh out my stance a bit.

• Under Article 6, The Constitution states that “…all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land.”
• The United States ratified the Geneva Conventions (a series of four treaties) in 1882.
• The War Crimes Act of 1996 made any grave breach of those restrictions a U.S. felony.
• In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Third Geneva Convention applies to all detainees in the War on Terror.
• Article 17 of the Third Geneva Convention states, in part:
  

  No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.

So unless and until the Federal Government breaks these treaties, the Executive Branch is knowingly allowing its members (within the Armed Forces) to commit felonies and breach ratified treaties which are, according to the Constitution, “the supreme Law of the Land.”

Ours is a nation where the Rule of Law is supreme, so condoning acts which our Constitution prohibits makes a person an Enemy of the United States. Adhering to such an Enemy is an act of treason, according to Article 3 of the Constitution.

And that’s where I stand. The “Rule of Law” is the foundation for our country, and so we cannot tolerate anyone who would exchange that foundation for the Rule of Men.

Our nation’s continued existence isn’t nearly as important as what sort of people will comprise this nation in the future. Are we willing to become a Western imitation of Iran or Saudi Arabia or communist China, so long as we keep the “USA” brand? It would be better for the USA to be overthrown from without than for it to be gradually converted to the philosophies of our enemies.

We will not defeat terrorism by becoming terrorists. Yet that is exactly the course our government seems to be Hell-bent on pursuing.

God help us all.

UPDATE: I came across an article regarding President Bush’s admitting that waterboarding has been used as an interrogation tactic since 9/11, and the author makes some excellent points:

Describing waterboarding in the book The History of Torture, George Ryley Scott wrote:

[The torture of water] was generally adopted when racking, in itself, proved ineffectual. The victim, while pinioned on the rack, was compelled to swallow water, which was dropped slowly on a piece of silk or fine linen placed in his mouth. This material, under pressure of the water, gradually glided down the throat, producing the sensation experienced by a person who is drowning. A variation of the water torture was to cover the face with a piece of thin linen, upon which the water was poured slowly, running into the mouth and nostrils and hindering or preventing breathing almost to the point of suffocation.

The KGB, the Khmer Rouge, the Gestapo, the Vietcong, the Communist North Koreans and the Burmese Junta all used waterboarding as torture.

Japanese soldiers who engaged in waterboarding were tried for war crimes after World War II.

The author goes on to say, as I did, that “[t]orture, even when used on those that seem so transparently evil as the al-Qaeda henchmen in our grasp at Gitmo, is, simply put, a betrayal both of America’s past and her promise for the future.”

The United States is supposed to be better than this.

A few weeks back, Katie drew this picture of a bee. I love it.

Yes, you!

But you’d never think that from looking at this picture.

[T]he king of Syria was greatly troubled… and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” — 2 Kings 6:11-15 (ESV)

Facing certain death, was Elisha’s servant asking a question, or rhetorically freaking out? The odds of two men fending off an entire army? Let’s just say they aren’t in the two men’s favor.

But you see, that’s the problem with people; we can spend so much time thinking about odds and chances that we begin to treat statistics as some sort of god, sovereignly dictating its omnipotent will.

It’s one thing to count the likely cost of a project before taking it on; it’s another matter entirely to run screaming when you see the estimate. Following the will of God often means choosing the seemingly foolish path because it’s the path God has called you to. God’s command trumps our understanding of wisdom, so the path we’re called to is the path in which God will bless us. We aren’t called to protect our lives and livelihood; we’re called to carry our crosses—to face our own “certain death”—because it’s in laying down our lives for His sake that we find true life.

[Elisha] said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. — 2 Kings 6:16-17 (ESV)

There’s all sorts of situations in life where we can lose heart. Me? In the last week I lost two pairs of dress pants (required for my job). A few days earlier I tore the inside handle off my car’s driver-side door, and at 215,000 miles and counting, it’s hard to tell whether the necessary repairs are really all that necessary. I’m committed to voting for a guy who—statistically speaking—is unelectable. And lest we forget, compared to gold the U.S. Dollar is only worth one quarter its value on 9/11; Bush’s multi-trillion-dollar “war” on terror is forcing us all into a slavery of debt, much as Pharaoh’s 7-year drought did to the Hebrews.

But… I’m not discouraged. Because God owes me nothing. Not a thing. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.” So whether it seems like He doing more giving or taking away, “blessed be the name of the LORD.”

I still say you should vote for Ron Paul, though.

Free Weegie has been freed! There were some shipping snafus, but Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #686 is now in stores—and we’re shipping two issues a month until we catch up (in April)!

Here’s the breakdown on the new on-sale dates:

January 9, 2008: DuckTales #3: Scrooge’s Quest
January 16, 2008: US #371, WDC #686
January 30, 2008: US #372, WDC #687, Treasures #2
February 12, 2008: US #373, WDC #688, Barks/Rosa #2
February 27, 2008: